Dexter residents are continuing a nearly forty-year-old tradition of lighting up the streets with paper lanterns this Christmas Eve.
Thousands of white paper bags and candles were handed out to city residents this past Saturday.
Luminaria Project Chair and local schoolteacher Erin McKillen says the Dexter Luminaria Project started in 1985 after local residents adopted a New Mexican tradition called Nochebuena, where paper lanterns are lit all along the city streets on Christmas Eve to welcome the birth of the Christ Child. The tradition has since become secular.
“It’s really become a secular thing where it’s just a traditional community event. It’s a special event where a lot of families come out specifically to see the lights. And it continues just have so much support.”
McKillen says other southeast Michigan towns have expressed interest in starting their own luminaria traditions. The lights have grown over the years to cover more than 2000 households from since the tradition first began.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org